I had some lovely e-mails after I shared the catfish recipe. Thank you very much! It always astonishes me that anybody, save my Mom & Dad, would even be reading this blog. But there you are. I’ve always loved the sense of community on a bulletin board, but a blog is so nice and homey. Don’t you think? I love reading blogs too.  I really enjoyed the issue of Artful Blogging, that I picked up from Stampington’s booth at CHA.  It’s nice to see what Rebecca Sower is doing these days and sharing on her blog.  Go check it out.

Yesterday, I swear I spent the WHOLE DAY going over the Prima product line and designing classes in my head.  I’ve got 8 or so of them in here now – and it’s getting crowded!  It was almost impossible to narrow things down, but I chose some beautiful lines by Just Corina, Dude and Whisper, as well as Angelique from IOD, to work with. I’m hoping the product will arrive shortly and I’ll have a nice portfolio of classes to share with anyone whose willing to host.  I’ll also be offering these at the SDVs posted on my sidebar.

So back to a lovely day.  65 degrees and sunshine-y.  With my fit of allergies attacking, I felt kind of like a shut-in today – but what the hay (or pollen, or whatever it is that is bothering me).  I’ve opened up the house.  I sat out on the deck and talked to Cheryl this morning.  I love chatting with you, hon.  And then, a happy surprise — Dr. Arlene came by to visit unexpectedly.  I cherish spending time with my friends.  These unexpected stolen moments are the ‘good stuff’ of life.

I spent the better part of the morning weeding through my husband’s pictures of Scotland and London, since York Photo is having some amazing $0.04 cent print sale through 5/19.  I haven’t used them before – but the last time I heard about ‘a deal’ with Winkflash, the photos had such nice quality, I figure for the price I can try it out.  I’ve had this little man laying at my feet during the photo editing session.  Blitzen is the perfect cozy pair of slippers.  I had to share his current pose.

I need to get a scrapbook done for them before our trip to Hilton Head — so this is one of those projects that I really *need* to spend time on.   Really.  I do.  It’s just harder when you weren’t there.  I can admire the scenery – but how do I know which shots have meaning?  So I’m just looking for composition and location shots.  I’ll leave journaling spots on all the pages so that Neil and his mom can add meaning and anectdotal information.  How do you gals that scrap for others, do it?  After all, I know the subjects that are in these photos.  Kudos to you.  I couldn’t do that for more than a project or two.

It’s a couple of hours before the kidoodles arrive on the scene.  I’ve got some ‘pink fish’, aka salmon marinading for tonight.  So here is a delicious and EASY, fast recipe from All Recipes’ website.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 pounds salmon fillets
lemon pepper to taste
garlic powder to taste
salt to taste
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS

• Season salmon fillets with lemon pepper, garlic powder, and salt.
• In a small bowl, stir together soy sauce, brown sugar, water, and vegetable oil until sugar is dissolved.
• Place fish in a large resealable plastic bag with the soy sauce mixture, seal, and turn to coat.
• Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
• Preheat grill for medium heat.
• Lightly oil grill grate. Place salmon on the preheated grill, and discard marinade.
• Cook salmon for 6 to 8 minutes per side, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. 

Easy, eh?

Now I’ve got to get back to pre-prepping little movie theaters for the twins’ Endangered Species projects.  I want the paint dry before they get home, so they can decorate the outside.  I’m hoping that chalk will stick to this surface, so that after they’ve done their thing, then I can spray it with a workable fixative.  If not, they can just paste their artwork to the outside.  Mostly we need to work on the ‘film’ rolls of paper tonight.  And hopefully I can do some magic with paper towel or dowel rods to help their vision come to light.  They both came home enamoured of this idea – and luckilly I found some cute snack boxes (Wheat Thins and Cheese Nips) to repurpose for their projects.  It’s low tech – but it’s recycling right?  Goes with the theme of the presentation anyways.

All right – the short people will be home within the hour – so I’m going to sign off for now.  I hope you are having a wonderful day too.  Thanks for the sweet notes.  It’s nice to share the day with you too!